The Battle of Mount Morning.

Okay, I have to say I admire this Anon guy a lot. He really seems to know what he's talking about, all the time. Here's a gem...

The most difficult part of any journey, is the first step.
                                                                                -Anon.

Runners, especially those just starting out, will immediately see the stark, bitter, undeniable truth in that.

You know how it goes, right? The alarm goes off, you reach over in your sleep-stupor and tap it off. And any one of the following few thoughts come vaguely alive in your addled mind...

"Okay, just five more minutes..."
"Ah, I'll start tomorrow..."
"It's too cold/hot/windy/rainy...maroon/spicy/sparkly/kinky/cardboard-y today to run..."
"Already? Already? Dammit, I just fell asleep! Screw this..."

And then, you drift back into oblivion. Maybe you feel a little guilt, but that is quickly overpowered by sweet, sweet spell of Morpheus (the greek dude, not L. Fishburne).

Familiar?

I've never been a morning person...but I've always been a morning runner.

Thankfully, I am now at a place where I don't really need to fight myself to get out of bed at unearthly hours for my training.

But yes, there was a time, not too long ago, when getting out of bed was nothing less than a battle. 'The Battle of Mount Morning', I called it. And in the words of Sun Tzu (who's a close second to Anon in terms of cool stuff said)...

Every battle is won, before it is ever fought.

If you want to defeat the sleep demon in the morning, people...you have to start fighting him the night before.

Here's the drill I followed...

Eat early. It helps.

Lay out your kit. Clothes, shoes, shades, music, Garmin. Money and whatever you eat or drink on a long run. The 5 kilo sandstone bust of Buddha that you like to carry on all your runs. Whatever. Because in the morning, not being able to find a sock will be enough to make you give in and go back to bed.

Set the alarm. It's a popular, and very effective trick to keep your alarm clock away from your bed, so that you have to leave the bed to turn it off.  I used to keep mine in the bathroom, near the sink, with the volume turned all the way up. You can even invest in one of these excellent thingummies...:D

Sleep Early. Yup. I'm not a crazy person who thinks that late night partying is a sin. I do indulge a bit myself, every so often. But if you run four days a week, that still leaves you with three nights to live it up. And frankly, if three nights aren't enough, maybe seven nights aren't either. If you're one of those extraordinary people who can get sloshed till two and still clock in a twenty-miler the next day at six, more power to you. If, however, like me, you aren't- make a choice.

This should give you a decided advantage against the tendency to sleep in. Cut to next morning...

It's time to go to war.

Don't Think. You know those first thoughts I mentioned earlier? They are sleep's most effective weapons against you. It takes some practice, but if you let your mind go completely blank as you leap out of bed for that irksome alarm, you'll be more likely to reach the bathroom sink for the next step...the coup-de-grace, so to speak...
 
Wash your face. This is your first and most effective weapon against sleep. Dip your entire head in a bucket, if you need to. For most of us, this one single act is enough to completely demolish any thought of going back to bed, so you need to do it pronto. Definitely do it before you ascend the porcelain throne (I actually fell asleep on there once because I didn't).

Don't dawdle. This is not the time to pick up a little something to read. This is not the time to step out on the balcony for a contemplative interlude. This is not the time for checking your emails or Facebook notifications. The sleep monster may have been slayed, but like Sauron (geek link alert), he doesn't really die...Every passing minute increases the chance of it's remanifestation. You need to get the hell out!

At one point, I actually made it a thing to time myself from alarm to road. 11:04, if you're curious, is my PR for that.

Run! You're out of the house. Congratulations. There's only this one little thing left to do...but it's the easiest thing you'll do this morning.

Bloody hell I can't believe I just wrote a whole lot of words on, basically, 'How to wake up.'

Week three of eighteen. Did the Dwarka Half-Marathon at all out effort last Sunday, despite promising myself I wouldn't. Broke 1:40 for the first time, with a 1:39:07. The course was about 300 meters short, though, so technically, I'm still not a Sub-1:40 half-marathoner. But not by much.